Enjoying God’s Presence in Christ

 “And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory. For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭4‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭KJV

Jeremiah prophesied, “If you make a promise in My Name, saying, ‘As surely as YAHWEH lives’ with truth, honesty, and integrity, then all other nations will desire His blessing and prosperity. They will shine and make their boast in Me.”  YAHWEH says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: “As a plow breaks open untilled ground, break open your hard hearts. Do not sow good seed among thorns.”   God told His people that they must renounce every idol; never stray from God’s Presence; and live a life of integrity.  Today, the resurrected Christ is the Lord of our life, living in our heart.  So we must not allow any kind of idols in our heart.  Let’s enjoy His Presence and have integrity and purity in our lives to enjoy His Presence by allowing the seed of the Word of God to bring out the fruit of love and truth from our lives.  Let’s remove every unwanted behaviour and attitude from our lives and delight in God’s Presence as we meditate on His Word.  Amen!

Come, Lord Jesus

 “Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭8‬:‭7‬ ‭KJV

Paul’s revelation, “You do well and excel in every respect—in unstoppable faith, in powerful preaching, in revelation knowledge, in your passionate devotion, and in sharing the love we have shown to you. So make sure that you also excel in grace-filled generosity.”  These are the features of godliness that are to be seen in our lives and ministries - that we excel in everything; we have unstoppable faith; we have an anointing of grace to speak the Word; we have revelation knowledge; we have passionate devotion; we show love; we are generous.  All this God has invested in us through our faith in the finished Work of Christ. What is the purpose?  The answer is, so that we can get on with the mandate Christ has given to His Church, His Body, and to bring souls to Christ so that He will come soon.  Maranatha!  This is what John said at the end of his vision in Revelation, “The one who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I Am coming quickly.” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the holy believers. Amen!”

The New Covenant Blessings

 “and I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭3‬:‭15‬-‭16‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Jeremiah prophesied, “‘I will give you true shepherds who follow My heart, and they will feed you with revelation-knowledge and deep understanding.’ ” YAHWEH says, “When My children have increased and prospered in the land, then no one will mention the ark of the covenant of YAHWEH. It will never even come to mind. No one will remember it, miss it, or make another one.”  God has promised that He will restore His people to the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake by giving them godly leaders who follow God’s heart.  They are the key to the restoration prophesied here for God said through Paul, “And He has appointed some with grace to be apostles, and some with grace to be prophets, and some with grace to be evangelists, and some with grace to be pastors, and some with grace to be teachers.”  Nowhere in Scripture is it seen that the ark of the covenant is to be found, rebuilt, or used again in the worship of YAHWEH.  This points to the new covenant which is the ever-increasing glory and where the people of God are the Temple of the Holy Ghost and carry God’s Presence.  How blessed are we in the New Covenant.  Amen!

The God of All Comfort

 “For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭7‬:‭5‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Paul’s revelation was, “Even after we came into the province of Macedonia, we found no relief. We were restless and exhausted; troubles met us at every turn. Outwardly I faced conflicts and inwardly emotional turmoil.”  With great honesty, Paul discloses his feelings while in Macedonia of his outside battles and his inside surrender.  He was beset with adversaries who opposed him, problems and arguments within the church, and persecution at every turn. Paul was emotionally torn by all conflicts among the believers, and also feared for Titus’ safety, who was on his way to visit him.  He was concerned about how the Corinthians would receive his severe letter, and he indicated that he was worn down physically and emotionally.  Being honest about our emotions is the first step in finding comfort and peace.  Paul’s example as a leader opening his heart to his people should not be missed by this generation.  It is Paul who started this letter with “All praises belong to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For He is the Father of tender mercy and the God of endless comfort. He always comes alongside us to comfort us in every suffering so that we can come alongside those who are in any painful trial. We can bring them this same comfort that God has poured out upon us. And just as we experience the abundance of Christ’s own sufferings, even more of God’s comfort will cascade upon us through our union with Christ. If troubles weigh us down, that just means that we will receive even more comfort to pass on to you for your deliverance! For the comfort pouring into us empowers us to bring comfort to you. And with this comfort upholding you, you can endure victoriously the same suffering that we experience.” Amen!

YAHWEH Is the Never-Failing Spring of Living Water

 “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭2‬:‭13‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Jeremiah prophesied to call back Israel from Israel to worship the true and living God.  “My people are guilty of a double sin: they have abandoned Me, the Spring of Living Water, and they have dug for themselves cisterns — cracked cisterns that hold no water.”  The pleasure of God is to be the Source of Living Water within our innermost being.  Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, Whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. He longs to satisfy His chosen ones for their enjoyment.  He wants to dispense Himself into every part of our being until we are saturated and become His expression on earth.  To turn away from our Fountain to another source will take us to a dead end, and God calls it “sin”.  The true Spring of Living Water never fails us and is available for us to drink of Him and find restoration.  False gods and sources are impotent and as useless as cracked cisterns.  Living Waters flow from the Throne of God whereas broken cisterns hold the waters of the world and are hewn by human hands.  YAHWEH is the never-failing Spring of Living Water, let’s drink of Him.  Amen!

Maturing in our Faith in Christ

 “We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, And in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭KJV

Paul’s revelation, “Now, since we are God’s coworkers, we beg you not to take God’s marvelous grace for granted, allowing it to have no effect on your lives. For He says, I listened to you at the time of My favor. And the day when you needed salvation, I came to your aid. So can’t you see? Now is the time to respond to His favor! Now is the day of salvation!”  As Paul points out, how can we be in that category of people, who received God grace in vain, that Christ’s shed Blood and sacrifice made no difference to us? Isaiah had prophesied and Paul remembered it here, “YAHWEH says: “When the time of showing you favor has come, I will answer your heart’s cry. I will help you in the day of salvation, for I have fixed My eyes on you…”  Let’s mature in our faith, in our personal relationship with our Lord Jesus. For by grace we have been saved by faith. Nothing we did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the love gift from God that brought us to Christ, it is His finished work on the Cross.  Faith is our part now, so we can co-labour effectively with Him as the Holy Spirit leads us, for we are accepted in the Beloved as the Father’s sons and daughters.  If we’re not doing that, we are in that sad position of receiving the grace of God in vain.  Amen!

The Power of Speaking God’s Word from Our Mouth by Faith

 “Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Jeremiah’s vision, “Then YAHWEH reached out with His hand and touched my mouth and said to me: “Now I have put My words in your mouth.”  One of the seraphim touched Isaiah’s mouth with a burning coal taken from the altar but here Yahweh Himself touched Jeremiah’s mouth.  With Isaiah it is a sign of the purification of his lips from sin; here it is God’s impartation of both revelation and authority to Jeremiah to speak the message God gave him to speak.  God promised Jeremiah that He put all His words in Jeremiah’s mouth that he will ever need.  Today, because of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus and the blessings we have all received, God still can put His words in the mouths of His true prophets.  As Peter said, “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

God Sees Believers as Righteous as Christ, His Son

 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭10‬, ‭21‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Paul’s revelation, “For one day we will all be openly revealed before Christ on His throne so that each of us will be duly recompensed for our actions done in life, whether good or worthless. For God made the only One Who did not know sin to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God through our union with Him.”  The greatest revelation from Paul for believers is that the judgment of our sins fell upon Christ on the Cross, and the believer will never be judged for his or her sins.  This wonderful divine exchange took place at the Cross - all our sins were left there, our guilt was removed and forever gone, and we walked away with all of God’s righteousness.  Every believer today possesses the complete and perfect righteousness of Christ.  We are seen by the Father to be as righteous as His Son.  The judgment mentioned for believers will be for different levels of rewards.  Some will receive no reward, yet they will be saved from the judgment of the wrath of God.  The glorious sacrifice of Christ for our righteousness gives us that joy and bliss, no one can give.  Let’s walk in the righteousness of God Himself, fulfilling what He has called us to do.  Amen!

Beholding Christ in All His Glory

 “For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭66‬:‭18‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Isaiah prophesied, “I despise their evil works and their thoughts,” says YAHWEH. “The time is coming for me to gather people together from all over the world, and they will come and gaze on my radiance.”  The works, thoughts and imagination of fallen humanity can be compared to the “mark (character) of the beast” on the hands (works) and the foreheads (thoughts, mind-sets) of people. As John the beloved disciple saw of the beast and the fallen humanity, “It performed great miracle-signs, even publicly causing fire to fall out of heaven to the earth. And through these startling miracles that he performed on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the world, telling the people to erect a statue in the image of the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived. The beast from the earth was empowered to breathe life into the image of the first beast so that it could speak and kill those who refused to worship its image. It also caused everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and bound, to be marked on the right hand or on the forehead. This meant no one could buy or sell unless they had the mark; that is, the name of the beast or its number. This will require wisdom to understand: Let the one with insight interpret the number of the wild beast, for it is humanity’s number —666.”  We thank our God for Pentecost and the birth of the Church, the community of God’s chosen from every nation and tongue, whose focus is the risen Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords.  Let’s keep beholding at the radiance and glory of our Lord Jesus.  Amen!

The Glorious Treasure Within Believers in Christ

 “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Paul’s revelation, “For God, Who said, “Let brilliant Light shine out of darkness,” is the One Who has cascaded His Light into us—the brilliant dawning Light of the glorious knowledge of God as we gaze into the face of Jesus Christ.” Paul helps us understand that “light” is both literal and a metaphor for spiritual revelation, and shows that the creation narrative provides us with an allegory pointing to the experience of the new birth in Christ when we come in the face-to-face Presence of Christ.  That’s how Isaiah prophesied, “Those who walked in darkness have seen a radiant Light shining upon them. They once lived in the shadows of death, but now a glorious Light has dawned!”  We are like common clay jars that carry this glorious Treasure within, so that this immeasurable power will be seen as God’s, not ours.” Paul says that we are common clay jars, created from dust, yet we possess the brilliant light of God’s glory, Jesus Christ, and carry Him as Treasure in our being.  The outward vessel is not as important as the glorious Treasure within.  Let’s know our identity in Christ through our new birth, and know that God’s glory is in us.  Amen!